Whisper (12 page)

TWENTY-SEVEN

Lost

I woke up feeling a light chilled breeze against my skin. The damp ground caught my attention. I thrust open my eyes to see an overcast sky. Woods are scattered all around me for miles. I wrap my arms against my tank top and stare down at my silk pajama pants, a gift from my uncle. My bare feet are damp with leaves sticking to them. 

A bird’s wings flap in the distance. The silence is too eerie. “Hello?” I call out, hearing my voice echo far.

The woods are rural, I don’t recognize my surroundings.
How did I get here?
I stumble through the woods. “Luken,” I shout.

Nobody is out here, it’s useless.

It felt like I have been walking for miles. Distant sounds echo in my ears. They came too faint from a far off location. As the sun starts to set, I want to curl up into a ball wishing away this miserable state I am in. Luken must be going insane not knowing where I am.

Dusk approached rolling in fog that settled to the ground for the night. The whistling of wind through the trees taunted me into motion. I could feel eyes watching me no matter which direction I turned. Dirt and twigs poked my feet. Running through scattered brush in the woods, thin branches cut into my flesh here and there.

“Can anyone here me, hello?” I frantically call out. My voice is strained from shouting.

There had been another disappearance…me.

Two trees grew together, like a shelter. Huddled beneath the branches I try to sleep. Shivering from the cold, my pajamas are damp from the ground. Tears trickle down my cheeks. My golden brunette hair sticks to my skin.

Frigid air swirled in the surrounding woods.

In the near distance an intense blue light wavered in my direction. It swarms effortlessly through the trees weaving and gliding with the tree trunks. My eyes widen. I covered my eyes too scared to deal with any more paranormal occurrences.

A woman started to approach, searching the woods. Her blue light faded. She wore her hair in a chignon. The pale blue she is wearing emphasizes her ice blue eyes. I could tell she had on a bustle underneath her dress with a cloth petticoat.

I continued to hide my eyes. Taking a deep slow breath, I try to wish Luken here. Watching the woman it perked a fear in me greater than I could imagine. “Hello, I have not seen anyone out here for some time, are you lost?” Her breathless voice spoke kindly.

Peeking through my hands like a terrified child, I cover my face deeper. Her eyes loomed inches away. “I do not mean to scare you dear, come look again.” I carefully turned to see she moved a few feet away.

“What is a young girl doing out here all alone, where are your parents?” She spoke with a breathless elegance. Maybe from a too tight corset pulled tight against her.  “I don’t know. One minute I was somewhere else then when I woke up I am here. My parents they’re gone. I live with my uncle now.”

“I see that is quite a dilemma. Where does your uncle live? Maybe I can help you find your way. This is no place for anyone to be alone.”

She wanted me to build a fire, but I am against it. That shadow he might find me if I send up smoke signals. Sitting on a propped out tree branch, she came and sat beside me. “My uncle lives outside Woodenbury, he owns the Vandersen Manor.”

Her hand trembling reached for her mouth.  “Forgive me…that was my home once. We are a long way from the mansion. At my time of passing I thought I saw my son Luken it couldn’t have been him.”

“Luken, you’re his mother! He’s at the mansion…Luken is…” I didn’t know if he and I can be considered anything, but regardless I finished saying, “my boyfriend.”

I remembered the garden, “Luken and I were supposed to meet in the garden, if he showed up there, he knows I am missing. My uncle probably already has a search party looking for me. They won’t find any clues. I disappeared from the balcony connected to my bedroom.”

Cold and wet I haven’t had food or water for a couple days now. “Help me find my way back. Luken is in more danger than I am.” She gazes away nodding.

The tip of Abigail’s dress is soaked and mildly dirty. Her eyes are weak and wary. “My Luken must love you dearly.” She exclaims.

“He does…I love him as well. Luken would not leave me alone like this if there were a choice.” I tried to think about how to mention the shadow to her. In the back of my mind, a sensation warned me against bringing her into this whole thing.

Grabbing my head I screamed, the pain unbearable. Not now, the headache surges. Images flood in front of my closed eyelids. The people are there again. A man’s muddled coarse voice is shouting something intangible. A figure dumped something into the back of a dark space. Like a band aid being ripped away, I felt the torturous pain. My screams echo in the air as I came back to the present.

“Is that normal?” She asks concern creases the corner of her eyes. “Yes,” I say.

The question coursed through me. This shadow, how did he fit in with Luken’s disappearance and possibly my own? My breath shook as the pain lessened. When I calm down, I watched Abigail. She places her hands in her lap, like a proper lady.

Abigail kept her emotions remorseful and controlled.
What is she doing exactly?
I think to myself. Her expression remains blank, like she can’t think productively.

“What is your name?” She finally says.

“Avaya Emerson.”

“Such a lovely name, come I shall show you a place to get some food. Quite possibly there is a place to rest for the night. For the sake of my son you will remain with me until I can return you to your uncle’s home.” She says with finality.

“Thank you I would appreciate it.” I sniffle, tears dry in my eyes. The light mist drizzles from the sky making the air chill until I felt like my feet are walking on ice.

“I w-w-would appreciate…l-l-love a p-p-place to sleep.” I say through chattering teeth.

“We must hurry before Hypothermia sets in. I meant it I do not want Luken to lose the girl who brightens his days. Luken would not forgive me if I let anything happen to you.”

“Thank you,” I say rubbing my hands against my arms.

We walked swiftly weaving between the trees. Abigail leads me farther away from where I woke up two days ago. At least I think it has been a couple days. While we walk I feel an ominous bitterness. I check over my shoulder to see nothing, but the dampness of the woods.

“Avaya…”A hissing whisper calls to me.

I block it away forcefully. Before me is an old wooden shack it appears, abandoned. “I know it isn’t fancy, it hasn’t been used in some time, but there may be food in there for you.”

My strength draining and the conquering reign of hunger, I head into the shack. There are dirty tin dishes on a table with cobwebs and dust. The pots are clean. A gas stove is near the sink. I search the cupboards and don’t find much a can of soup is in the back on the top shelf.

“Is there any suitable food?” Startled I jump.

“An old can of soup. Better than nothing I guess.”

I place a pan on the stove. There isn’t a modern can opener I had to use what is available. It turned my hands pink leaving marks from the firm pressure. The water in the sink barely trickled as I cleaned a bowl and spoon. It shut off here and there. I managed to clean it enough to not wonder who used them last. I noticed the cobweb and dust free bed hiding behind a short open wall.

Abigail appears at my side in the morning. “Sleep well Avaya?”

“No, I am restless without Luken around, which is when I get the best sleep.” She smiles gently. “How did you manage before? Actually do not answer that, I have my suspicions.”

Outside the sky cleared, the sun shining brightly. Abigail forced me to stay in bed wrapped up in the warm quilted blanket. Her ice cold touch sends tremors up my spine, not the sweet kind I received from Luken.

She tells me stories of her family. How they ended up so isolated from the main city life. What her dreams were for the manor. “We always had friends and family over for parties and dinner.” She says, reminiscing in her memories of a faraway past.

My mind wanders to thoughts of Luken, please let me find my way back to him. “Well, we should start the journey to the mansion now, it truly is quite far.” My bare feet felt like ice after touching the cold ground, stumbling over more rocks. The wood on the porch of the shack before we left stabbed the bottom of my toes. Little cuts and bruises etched the soles of my feet.

If Abigail hadn’t shown up that shadow whoever, whatever it is would have been pleased. I pictured myself getting lost heading deeper and deeper into the woods, until the chances of anyone finding me faded. I close my eye trying to shake the image from my mind.
What does he want with me?

“Are you sure you know the direction?” She spins around.

“Child, I have been haunting these woods such a long while, I can find the mansion with my eyes closed.” Abigail says coldly.

“I am sorry.”

She nods once, “you are forgiven. So tell me about your parents.”

I sigh the thought of talking about them brings on a pain I have pushed away. The sorrow shoves its way to the forefront of my mind. I only wanted to see them again. “They were art dealers.”

Abigail turns to me confused and perplexed. “What is an art dealer?”

“They used to buy and sell art. My parents also managed several artists they both would travel a lot.”

“How fascinating, one can be successful in such a way.”

We stand on a hill near a mountaintop deep within the woods. “You see that just there?” In the distance I see a town. It had to be an hour away driving in a car if not more than that. Being barefoot, the walk felt longer with each step I took. “That is Woodenbury.” She claims. I search in different directions. “Where is the mansion, I don’t see it anywhere.”

“With all the trees surrounding it, we might not be able to see it too well.” She scans the vast array of land. “It is there,” Abigail points in a direction far to the left of the town.
Luken I’m coming.
I thought to myself.

I can see the pond in the back of the mansion. Abigail guides me to a trail with an unmarked pathway. We leave the trail. I can almost feel Luken’s enraged presence beckoning me to come to him.

TWENTY-EIGHT

Home Sweet Home

It took almost another day before we come remotely close to the mansion. Abigail reassured me, she will not leave my side until we are back at the mansion. Dusk is near we still have a while longer to walk.

“Avaya,” my name slithers in the air. Through the gentle breeze in the leaves, it came toward me hissing my name. It is harder to block it out now. The menacing tone is jabbed in my memory.

“We must continue to move,” Abigail encourages.

Her blue glow returned. As night nears we enter an area within earshot to the woods closest to the mansion. People shout, “Avaya,” a chanting chorus hoping I will speak out. This time I know better. Besides, I am still too far away to be heard if I made noise.

A fiery flash of blue whips passed me. The familiarity of that presence eased my shaking nerves. “Avaya where are you?” I heard his angered tone.

Luken, “that is Luken.” Abigail takes a step back. A tear drips from her eyes. “He is okay.” I glance back to respond, only to find she is gone.

His angered blue light dims to nothing. Luken slumps next to a scarred tree. Frustrated he groans. He looks so defeated. I watch as his energy drains turning him translucent, a clear image.

Carefully I step toward him, “Luken I am right here.”

Luken pulls all the energy he has left in him to become corporeal. He pulls me tight to him. He didn’t let go. Someone steps out from a shadow, shrouded in black. It comes toward me Luken positions himself in front of me.

“You,” it hissed seething, “have no power to prevent this.”

Luken stood his ground. “I will not let you harm her.”

This shadowed figure, laughs a gnarled sound. He uses shadows to shove Luken out of the way. “I cannot be stopped, you are non-existent a spirit. Try to stop me.” Luken’s blue flame glow swirled. The shadowed figure casts shadows at me. They wrapped tightly around my wrists and ankles, bolting me to the nearest tree. Shouts bounce against the trees. Scattered in the woods, they are still searching for me. Struggling against the shadows, the black handcuffs tightened against my wrists and my black shackles squeezed at my ankles.

I am forced to watch Luken go head to head with this menacing creature. Luken breaks away behind the tree with the figure hot on his tail to break me free. I turned to face him, when I am mobile.

Luken’s gentle sapphires meet mine. “Run Avaya, don’t look back get out of here, just run.” He shouts at my frozen form.

Last sound I hear is Luken shouting my name. Back tracking I couldn’t leave him. Luken managed to help me. I had to find a way to help him in return. Our love is too strong to test our level of loyalty. If Luken thinks I am going to desert him, he is wrong.

They were both gone by the time I got back to where Luken had been. I head in the direction of the mansion. Lapping pond water against the shore came from nearby. I sought my way there to see the lights from the mansion a short distance away. The few lights on in the windows glowed in the darkness.

“Avaya,” a frantic desperate voice shouted at close range. Two more voices chorused in with his. “I am scared what if she isn’t out here. Come on let’s go back inside and regroup with the others.” Chrissi doubted I will be found.

“I am not going to let anything happen to her.” Nicolette said.

Their voices echo, I realize they are headed toward me. I start running glancing behind me pretending to be terrified at times until I smacked into a rock hard sculpted chest. I wouldn’t have been able to nonchalantly walk up to them after missing for almost four days.

“Avaya, thank goodness.” Chrissi says. Both girls hug me tight.

“We were so worried, Xavier was going psycho.”
Not as psychotic as Luken had become.
I wanted to add. I didn’t want to stir the jealousy streak Xavier has over not being the one I desire.

“Xavier, thanks for helping to find me, I can’t even begin to explain where I have been or how I got there. Please take me…home.” It is the first time I call the mansion my home.

I collapsed.

Xavier caught me before I fell. Unconsciousness had not taken hold of me yet. A man in the distance had shouted. I couldn’t quite make out what he was saying. My uncle and cousin had been in the chapel. I saw them running toward me. The man must have said I have been found.

“Avaya my dear niece, I have missed you.”

Acknowledging my uncle I stared into his choked up expression. His eyes reveal contentment to have me safe back at his home. I saw some of the lost light in his eyes return. My uncle hoists me up in his arms into a comfortable position. I closed my eyes, letting exhaustion consume me.